Hope through the dark places

Thin Places

Mary De Muth’s latest book, Thin Places*, released this week by Zondervan Publishing, is a moving memoir of childhood abuse, neglect and loss.

This is a story that needed to be told. In fact shouted out, for all the little girls and grown-up girls who have endured, or who are enduring, the same horror Mary went through. They are not alone. God is in the “thin places” of our lives–those places where He meets us in our tragedies, and reaches out to us with Love.

Mary is a gifted writer. Her soul shines through every page. She speaks openly of her repeated abuse at the tender age of five, by two older boys. At the time, she tells no one. When her parents divorce, she is distanced from her father’s daily presence. At age ten, she loses him entirely, through his death. After a few months, her silent grief spills out loud.

Her mother responds, “You need to be over that now.”

Mary does not leave us with loss however. This is also a story of redemption. At age fifteen, she meets Jesus in her “daddy-less” thin place and God becomes her heavenly Father.

In a later chapter, she adds, “Like the Prodigal’s father, God flat out runs to me…, twirls me in His arms like a father would, and whispers, “I love you, Mary. Rest now. I’m not the father who died. I’m not the mother who didn’t notice. I’m the One who loves you enough to run across a room.”

After reading Thin Places, I long to be as transparent in my writing as Mary is. Long to create, as she does, beautiful word images. Most of all, I long to love Jesus in His redemption of me in my losses, with the same abandonment and passion that Mary radiates throughout this remarkable book.

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thank you for sharing this– My earthly father is still alive, but has often been distant from me and left my mother when I was a teenager. I still find it remarkable that at such a young age I was able to look to God to be my Father–He is always there for me. Thank you for reminding me.

"Words of wisdom from those who have had to walk through grief: be gracious/patient/forgiving when we forget appointments, change our minds at the last minute, don't return phone calls, act a lil' crazy."
Kelly Schleyer Powers

"You do not work through bereavement. It works through you."
Virginia Ironside,
'You'll Get Over It'-The Rage of Bereavement

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love."
Washington Irving

"I wish you would've told me," she said, "that losing you would be like losing my life."
...taken from author, Mary De Muth's novel, The Muir House.

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
Psalm 147:3

"In a world rocky with human failure, there is a land lush with divine mercy. Your Shepherd invites you there. He wants you to lie down. Nestle deeply until you are hidden, buried, in the tall shoots of his love, and there you will find rest."
...Max Lucado,Traveling Light